Dubai... wandering about.

After checking my email in the morning, I wandered around. I took one of the boats across the Dubai Creek from the Sabkha Abra Station.On the other side, my first stop was the Dubai museum.The building used to be the Al-Fahidi Fort, built in 1787. A beautiful old building.Most of the museum is actually underground. The museum was great.After the museum, I wandered over to the Basta Art Cafe for lunch.The atmosphere ıs fantastıc. Fresh and relaxıng. So nice. It is in the old Bastakia Quarter, in the courtyard of an old house. It's got a great menu, though a tad expensive. I had a Strawberry Blend (strawberries, banana, yogurt, honey) and a roasted vegetable sandwich (mushrooms, aubergines/eggplants, tomato, lettuce, etc.).Yum Yum!!!
After a great lunch, I spent some tıme wanderıng around the Bastakia Quarter.Very hıgh walls, few doors or wındows.You can see one of the many wınd towers (sort of natural aır condıtıonıng). There were NO people!!! Maybe because ıt was lunch tıme? The only thıngs open were a couple of restaurants, a lıttle gallery and a lıttle spıce shop.After spendıng some tıme ın the quarter, I went back to the museum to see part of the outsıde part that I had mıssed (I had gone down ınto the maın part too soon). Whıle there I got some henna done on my hand. I love henna!!!From there, I wandered back along the creeksıde, through the Dubaı Souq (Textıle Souq). It was very dead. Everythıng was closed and no one was around.I walked all the way to the Sheıkh Saeed al-Maktoum House, where I ended up wıth a bıt of a tagalong (he followed me the rest of the afternoon, tryıng to get closer to me, whıch I would have none of).After that, there was another house turned museum and then the Herıtage Vıllage and Dıvıng Vıllage. The old buıldıngs are all so beautıful. They were all rebuılt from a crumblıng mess. Outsıde the Dıvıng Vıllage, there was a man wıth 2 camels and a donkey for rıdıng. I got a pıcture on one of the camels.When I fınally decıded to take a break and have some tea, I let the tagalong suggest a lıttle cafeterıa ın one of the back streets off of the Dubaı Souq, whıch was quıte busy.Wıth tea, we had these sweets that were pretty much straıght honey.So delıcıous, but so unhealthy!!! After fınıshıng my tea, I headed back across the creek vıa the boats agaın.I went straıght to the Internet (where I was unable to fınısh postıng thıs). Then I went back to my hotel, leavıng my tagalong behınd. I hadn`t even unlocked my door when my phone began to rıng. I managed to get ıt ın tıme. It was Yvonne and Terry from Edmonton, whom I had met at breakfast. They were on theır way out to go to the spıce market, and would be back after an hour or so to fınd some dınner. They asked ıf I wanted to meet up later, or ıf I wanted to joın them ın theır search for spıces. Of course I was up for that. Any explorıng ıs fıne by me. :)
We found the spıce markets faırly easıly. We had expected more spıce shops. We only went ınto one shop, where we were shown every spıce they had. The teas were very strong smellıng. I now know what frankınsence looks and smells. Not exactly my type of scent.4 kınds of pepper:For dınner, I suggested the Sarovar Restaurant, a lıttle Indıan restaurant that I found ın my guıde book. It ıs just off the maın stretch of the gold souq. It was hard to order, as we had no ıdea what the menu ıtems were, but we were all quıte satısfıed wıth our food.

Masala Dosa:I forget what ıt`s called but ıt`s pretty much a pancake wıth tomatoes on top:Paneer Tıkka Masala:After a great meal, we went back to the hotel for a beer ın theır room - they had bought a case at the aırport after hearıng that ıt was hard to fınd ıt anywhere. We had a nıce chat and then ıt was tıme for me to hıt the sack. I had a 4:30AM flıght to catch.

Safari etc.

Before my safari trip, I had time to wander around the area a bit. I found the gold souq.Interesting.I had lunch (fattoush and fresh mango juice) at my hotel restaurant and then wandered a bit more.The safari trip was great fun. I was picked up at my hotel at around 3:30. There were 6 other people plus the driver. Since I was traveling alone, the driver, Ahmed, had me sit in the front seat. I'm glad for that, knowing now how the day went.Basically all the safari is is going through the desert 'dune bashing'. Going up and down the dunes feels pretty much like a roller coaster (though, thankfully without the loops). We went along the tops, down the sides (sideways!), up and down and around and over. One guy in the very back seat got sick. Because of the shocks, the back bounces a bit more than the front. I am pretty sure if I had been sitting in the back I would have been sick as well. :SI was a bit disappointed, though, as we didn't get a chance to do the sandboarding. Maybe because of the sand storm? It was very windy and blowing the whole day. When we did get out to take pics or take a break, it was hard not to get sand in the eyes. I will have to wait until I return the end of April to go sandboarding, I suppose. The camel riding isn't really camel riding. More like just getting on the camels for a 2 minute walk, only long enough to take pictures. I didn't do that.
Ahmed, my driver, seemed to feel the need to protect me as when we stopped, he stuck near me when ever we stopped. At the first stop before dune bashing, he shared his snack with me and gave me a drink (vitamin C drink). While on the dunes, I had his phone in my bag under my knees (incase things in the truck started flying?). He has been doing the safaris for 6 years so knows what he's doing. He said he's never rolled but most of the other drivers have at least once. Apparently the day I chose to go was very dangerous because of the sand storm. The dunes were changing, and the tops were softer, plus the tracks they normally follow had disappeared. Luckily, since he's been doing it for so long, he knows very well the ways to go. Ahmed said it's most dangerous when it rains (which is very rare). Sometimes up to 80% of the trucks roll then because they slide. I took a couple of videos of the dune bashing, which I will upload as soon as I get a chance.
After going around the dunes for a while, we went to the safari camp. It is enclosed by walls and around the inside, there are several tents. I sat with Ahmed and some of his Egyptian friends for a while and had a sheesha and tea/coffee mix - coffee mix, sugar, condensed milk and tea all together. Actually not a bad combination! :) The others went to get pics with the camels or disappeared elsewhere. I didn't get pics with the camels, but did get one with the falcon.Then we went to the tent with all the tables (which was closed to keep the wind out). It was getting quite cool by that point. The rest of the group then showed up. We sat for a while and then our buffet/bbq dinner was ready so we all went out to line up. There was one table/line for the women, and one for the men. So much food. Yum! Tahini, babaghanoush, flat bread, vegetables, rice, pasta, and then from the bbq lamb kebabs, chicken kebabs, beef kebabs, and ribs. When dinner was finished, the show started on the large stage outside. A belly dancer was up for a long time. Then a whirling dervish.
I got back to the hotel at almost 10PM. An hour later than expected, and very tired.
Argh. Uploading pictures on here is taking SO LONG!!
Oh. Just an added note. While I sit here at the computer in a little Internet cafe, there are cockroaches running up and down the walls behind the computer, and on the desk as well. YUCK!

Dubai

I'm now in Dubai. :)
Getting here was a tad stressful. I ended up being a little late getting to the airport and pretty much had to run to get on the plane, but made it.
I was flying on Aeroflot Russian. I was not impressed. No TVs, no music. Just a basic plane. And my MP3 battery was dead!! :O The only good thing was that the plane was pretty empty so I had 3 seats to myself. I slept on and off, read a book and did some Sudoku.
The meals were a bit of an issue as I was near the back of the plane. By the time they got to me, all that was left was fish. In case you don't know me well, I don't eat fish or seafood of any kind. The 2 flight attendants that were always on my side of the plane were quite good about it, though, and found other alternatives. For the first meal, they gave me a pasta meant for the 2nd meal. Then when the second meal came along, they realized there was only fish left again, so they brought me some sort of little quiche. Not sure where they managed to dig that up, but it was delicious! When he gave it to me, he said "Special just for you."
I transfered in Moscow and the plane there was delayed an hour, so I sat and had a fairly expensive mocha: $8. Tasted great, though.
Arriving in another country at 2:30 AM isn't the best idea, but I had no problems. Everything was still open at the airport, unlike some other airports I've been to that shut down everything fairly early. I changed the rest of my Korean money and caught a taxi to the hotel I had attempted (but failed - I didn't get a response to any of my requests) to book ahead. The taxi was 41 DHS. The Hotel Florida had rooms available, though at twice the rate listed in the Lonely Planet guide that I have (hasn't been updated?). They said that was the old price from a few years ago. The hotel is nice, though. Clean with an in room safe. A decent buffet breakfast is included.
So far today all I've done is found a travel agent. I booked my flight to Istanbul (4:25AM March 4th) as well as a half day desert safari for this afternoon/evening.
The 6 hour desert safari includes a camel ride, sand boarding, a sheesha, bbq dinner, belly dancing show, henna tattoos and an optional (for a little extra) dune buggy ride. Sounds good to me!! It cost me 180 DHS. They will pick me up at my hotel at 3 so I won't be able to do a lot today. I'll just wander around the area for a while. I'll have all day tomorrow to visit the museum and other places I want to see.
I'll try and post a couple of pictures tomorrow.

Mr. Panny

This was on the big table in the staff room when I got to work. One of the parents must have brought in what ever it is.Mr. Pan
MR.PANNY'S PANCOOKING
MADE FRESH DAILY
Mr.Panny
Hot Cake

kindy sketchbooks

All of my students had a sketch book that they would draw in when they were not on their toys day (they alternated). Some of them are fantastic artists; creative and skilled. I was surprised at how good some of them are. They are much better than I am yet they are only 6 (they just turned Korean age 8)! I should have taken pictures of more of their work, as I loved them all. Here are some of Jason's drawings.Little characters before coloring:A couple of close-ups:Cute!A couple of close-ups:Smog?

Rachel

Gotta love it!!"I AM PASSED FOR WIND THE RIDER GO AWAY"
On the front: "Classic Emblem" and a rhinestone skull.

Snowboarding in Korea

I went snowboarding a couple of times this winter. I had only been boarding once before, many years ago, so I am still learning. It scares me, but I love it!! (I'm scared of heights and speed!)The first outing (January 25th) was to Vivaldi Park, which is a couple of hours north east of Seoul. As we had someone driving, we left very early and returned the same day in the evening (though in hindsight, we should have made plans to just stay there for the night).The resort was not very busy (due to it being the Lunar New Year long weekend), which was great since 3 of us were beginners. The hill has 12 slopes and the snow was great. It had been snowing so it was all fresh and it continued to snow on and off when we were there.The menu at the cafeteria had us rolling on the floor - the item at the bottom of the menu says, "Squid three dual beam blows". Ummmm. What is that? The Korean says it is Osambulgogi, which is a pork and squid dish. I suppose the "three dual beam" refers to the samgyupsal, which is 3 layer pork belly (similar to bacon but cut thicker).

Everything shuts down for an hour at around 5 for the hills to be freshly groomed before the evening skiing, to mark the end of the half day lift tickets.The evening time was great. With the lights on, it was easy to see and there were a lot less people. Quite peaceful, actually, though they do have Korean music playing all day from loud speakers on the lift posts.
I'm not very good at boarding. I know I don't do it right. I do it my own way. I don't turn properly. Actually, I don't turn at all. Instead, I keep switching my front foot - regular (left forwards) to goofy (right forwards) to regular to goofy, zig-zagging my way down the hill. I tried doing a proper turn once... resulting in a fractured tailbone - OUCH!!!!!! Still getting over that one (couldn't sit or really walk without being in a lot of pain for the first couple of weeks after). Didn't stop me from going again, though. Went straight back up to the top of the mountain for another run. But after that, I decided I should get more comfortable with what I can do on the board rather than trying anything new, since I don't want to hurt myself any more before my big trip. I NEED to be able to sit properly (long flights and bus rides almost every day will not be fun if I can't sit for long) and have to be able to carry my pack and such.The second boarding trip (February 8th) was to Bears Town for a morning of boarding. We got up really early and took a taxi to the hill (because of where we were at the time, it was much easier to do that than to go to one of the bus pick up points). Bears town is fairly close to Seoul, just to the northeast. Bears Town is a fairly popular place for day trips from Seoul.It has 11 slopes and is fairly easy to get to. When we went, though, it wasn't so great. Pretty much the entire hill was ice covered in man made snow, which was pretty much tiny little balls of ice. If you fall, you hit hard, and keep sliding for quite a ways. It is hard to get up as there is nothing to grip. Several times I had to slide a ways down to find a spot to grip. It is much harder to board on ice, as there is no resistance and the board just wants to fly out from under you. My legs certainly got a good workout trying to keep me up!! I fell a lot more this trip than I did the trip to Vivaldi Park. My tailbone survived - when I fell I purposely landed more flat on my back rather than on my butt. I did manage to hurt my elbow, though. sort of hyper extended it. I was feeling that for the following week. It is okay now for the most part.
I wish I could have gone some more but as I'm out of here next weekend, I don't really have time. Too bad. I'll have to wait until next year.

vigilanti 'paparazzi' in Korea

This is a very interesting article.

In South Korea, vigilanti 'paparazzi' patrol the streets

Reporting from Seoul -- With his dapper red scarf and orange-tinted hair, Kim Rae-in is a card-carrying member of the "paparazzi" posse, cruising across Seoul on his beat-up motorcycle on the lookout for the next "gotcha" moment.

He's not stalking starlets or pop singers. He's after the real money-making snaps: the slouching salary man lighting up in a no-smoking area, the homeowner illegally dumping trash, the corner merchant selling stale candy to kids.
The former gas station attendant isn't choosy. Even small crime pays big time -- more than $3,000 last month alone, he says. "It's good money. I'll never go back to pumping gas. I feel free now."

The skinny 34-year-old is among a new breed of candid-camera bugs across South Korea -- referred to as paparazzi, though their subjects are not the rich and famous, but low-grade lawbreakers, whose actions are caught on film that is peddled as evidence to government officials.

In recent years, officials here have enacted more than 60 civilian "reporting" programs that offer rewards ranging from as little as 50,000 won, or about $36, for the smallest infractions to 2 billion won, or $1.4 million, for reporting a large-scale corruption case involving government officials. (That one has yet to be made.)
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[to read the rest of the article click here]

Dosan Park - Fall

I went for a walk in Dosan park after work on November 21st. Here are some of the pics I took.Only the day before, the leaves were still on the trees, but due to a couple of VERY windy days, all of a sudden the leaves were gone.You can sure tell where the Gingko trees are by the yellow circle of leaves under them.I love the trees here. My favorite is the Gingko tree. The leaves are so different, and they turn a bright yellow in the fall. Some of the trees have gigantic leaves and bark that looks like camouflage. We don't have them back home.There are other trees with big leaves, too. I'm not sure what they are, either.For some reason, no Korean I've asked knows what any of the trees are. You can see my school through the trees at this corner of the park. My desk overlooks the park from the 3rd floor.I love parks. :)

planning

I'm getting excited. I'm planning my trip to the Middle East. I've got my tickets booked, and will pay for them this week. I've figured out which countries I will go to and just have to figure out how much time to spend in each, how much money I might need, and of course, what I have to do for VISAs. I'll have 9 weeks there. Very exciting.
I will fly into Dubai to start off my trip. From there I will go to Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan and then Egypt before flying to Dubai to catch my return flight.